When firefighters arrived at a home on Detroit’s west side early this morning, family members told them people were trapped on the second floor.

Firefighters extinguished the flames engulfing the first floor and discovered the bodies of three people killed, including twin 3-year-old boys and their 46-year-old grandmother, who had her arms wrapped around one of the children, Detroit Deputy Fire Commissioner David Fornell said.

“When we finally knocked the fire down, the stairway was burned away … that was the only exit from upstairs,” he said. “It cut off their exit path.”

All three were pronounced dead at the scene in the 18900 block of Lahser, near West Seven Mile and Grand River. Their bodies were discovered in an upstairs bedroom on the floor, officials said.

A 4-year-old boy, a cousin of the twins, was able to escape from the basement on his own, fire officials said. He was taken to Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit with second- and third-degree burns over 20% of his body and was in critical condition, Fornell said.

“It was a sad scene,” he said.

Officials have not released the names of those killed and injured.

Crews were dispatched to the home where 12 people lived around 12:45 a.m. The investigation determined the accidental fire started in the kitchen and may have been caused by a faulty stove, Fornell said.

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People dropped off balloons and stuffed animals in front of the charred bungalow today, and neighbors remembered the twins as friendly, sweet boys who played with their bikes and smiled all the time.

Monique Holley said she saw the young boys Monday morning in the back yard with their grandmother, and they told her "hi."

The family who lived in the home destroyed by flames was new to the neighborhood and moved in within the last year, she said.

Holley woke up around 1 a.m. and heard screaming coming from the house next door. One man, she said, was yelling the names of the people still inside.

“The fire it just went so fast,” she said, adding flames were shooting out of the home.

Emergency crews transported two adults, a man and woman, to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Firefighters said the woman was very emotional and transported as a precaution and the man was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.

Firefighters said they found a single smoke detector in the home, which was in basement. It was emitting sounds, but not very loudly, Fornell said.